Welcome

We’re a Christian campus ministry serving students and internationals in Madison, WI. Our prayer is that you find the Chapel to be a place where you can meet new friends, have fun, and grow in your journey towards knowing God.Learn More

Live Worship

Latest Message

Ministries

Whether you’re an American student or a visitor from another country, new to Christianity or already a Christian, there’s something here for you at Chapel. We hope you’ll join us to learn about Jesus as we grow in our faith together.

Social Media

Opportunities to Serve

Support Us

Through your financial support you can help us serve hundreds of American and international college students and reach out to even more with the gospel of Jesus Christ.Give NowLearn More

God’s Word for You

Luke 14:31-33 my Old Adam is killed

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, October 1, 2018

31 Or again, if a king goes to war against another king won’t he first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he can fight the other who is coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If not, then while the other king is still a long way off, he will send ambassadors to sue for peace. 33 So in the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Kings and ambassadors; tactics and capitulation. Suing for peace versus making a bold counterattack. There are stories from history in which a small force either defeated or delayed a much larger force and brought about a victory. The Greeks at Thermopylae. Magruder and his Confederates vs. McClellan at Yorktown. Shamgar vs. the Philistines. There are more examples—many more—of a smaller army being overrun completely by a larger one.

But this passage isn’t about winning a battle. It’s about considering what it is that we have to lose. If you’ve been waging war against God himself—his will, his commandments, or salvation through Christ—then you’re fighting a losing battle. Those consequences are an eternity of punishment, and that’s a cost that should certainly be counted.

Another consideration is what changes will need to be made in my life because I’m a Christian. These changes don’t happen just once, as if I’m a finished product on the day I’m confirmed. Every time I dig once again into the Scriptures, I pray that a little more of my Old Adam is killed by the Law, and my new man will rise in Christ, willing to fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

About Pastor Timothy SmithPastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended the Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.